Electrode holder



July 26, 1938. J. CHURCHWARD EILECTRODE HOLDER Original Filed Sept. 11, 1935 11 :jimzt ltifitzzn-zie.--"

x h I w 16 13 V2 ternally threaded socket member.

found that in some instances when the holder is Reissued July. 26, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELECTRODE HOLDER Original .No. 2,059,438, November 3, 1936, Serial No. 40,047, September 11, 1935.

Application ior reissue May 23,1938, Serial No. 209,537

This invention relates to electrode holders and more particularly to an electrode holder for use in arc welding or the like in which the blade or jaw portions of the holder are detachable from the base or handle portion.

In my prior Patent No. 1,973,701 I have shown an electrode holder of a somewhat similar type in which the blade or jaw portions of the holder are provided upon their ends, which are attached to the handle, with halt-round threaded portions designed to be screwed into a cylindrical in- It has been in use, the handle will become heated, due probably to the lack of a good tight contact between the socket and the threaded ends of the jaw members. Ithas been found that this heating can be prevented by so forming the handle members. that ,there will be outward pressure upon the half-round portions at the rear end, tending to force the threaded surfaces of the handle members into close contact with the wall of the socket and thus provide a better electrical contact than can be obtained by the ordinary threaded engagement.

One object of the invention; therefore, is the provision of an electrode holder wherein the blades will be secured in tight contact with the base or handle member from which current is delivered to the blades.

Another object 01' the invention is the provision of an electrode holder such that the current-carrying member will be secured to the blades in a manner to prevent the generation of similarly formedjaws with halt-round threaded surfaces upon their rear ends and an internally threaded socket to receive said half-round ends, and the blades being so formed that they diverge outwardly from the rear ends thereoi',.whereby the threaded ends are forced outwardly by the resiliency of the blades into tight contact with the wall of the socket,

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations or parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

' In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an electrode holder embodying my improvements; V Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2'2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 1

shown partly in section and showing the parts prior to the assembly thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the parts in assembled relation. To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention'I have shown an electrode holder comprising a pair of blades or jaws l0 and Ii which are generally flat in shape for the greater part of their lengths but which are provided adjacent their rear ends with half-round portions i2 and l3 threaded externally. It 'will be understood that these halt-round portions are complementary to each other, so that if placed together with their flat surfaces abutting they'will form a substantially cylindrical externally threaded body.

The blades or jaws Ill and Ii are designed to receive and clamp an electrode therebetween and are preferably made of steel or some similar maamount of spring or resiliency between them so that they will clamp down upon the electrode after they have been spread apart and the electrode inserted.

This spreading may be readily accomplished by means 01' a stirrup or trigger member l4 having a portion l5 inserted between the jaws which may be recessed, as shown at l6, for this purpose, and the stirrup member i4 is provided with a rigidly attached operating member I1 designed to extend rearwardly over the handle of the tool, where it may conveniently be manipulated by the opera-- tor. It will be apparent that if the member I1 is moved downwardly {mm the position shown in Fig. l, the blades will be spread apart by the part l5 and the electrode may then be inserted;

A guard l8 of insulating material may be slipped over the rear ends of the blade members to lodge against the shoulders i9 thereon, this guard being provided with a cut-out or recessed portion .20 within which the member I! may be moved.

The half-round threaded portions i2 and I! are i received in an internally threaded socket 2| of a base or connector member 22, the latter being made of conducting material and designed to have a current lead conducted thereto in any suitable manner so that current will be connected from this lead to the jaws. :A cylindrical guard or handle member 23 may he slipped over the connector member 'fl'and secured thereto by means of the screw 24. This guard may preferably be made of fiber or of other suitable insulating material so that the operator will be protected from the current passing through the member 22.

It has already been stated that the jaws It and II may be formed of'steel or similar material and that these jaws possess a certain amount of inherent spring or resiliency, such as by tempering or the like, so that they tend to return to their normal positions when moved therefrom. It is particularly desirable in order to prevent the generation of heat in the socket 2| to provide a close, tight contact between the rear ends of the jaw member and the wall'of the socket. This is accomplished in the present structure by the means which will now be described.

As originally made, the jaws, as shown in Fig. 3, are bowed outwardly to some extent adjacent their central portions so that, as shown in this figure, if they are placed in abutting relation at both ends, the central portions thereof adjacent the stirrup l4 willbe spaced apart.

When the socket 2| is screwed upon the jaws, 4

it 'is screwed thereon with considerable effort, as by a wrench having a suiiiciently long handle to give substantial leverage. This forces the diverging half-round portions together, as shown in Fig. 4, so that while it is necessary to use considerable force, nevertheless the 'socketed member 22 may be forced upon the threaded jaw bases l2 and I! for substantially their entire length.

When the tool has been assembled, as shown in Fig. 4, whilethe half-round threaded portions of the jaws will lie substantially flat upon each other, the blade portions of the jaws will still be bowed to some extent due to their initial shape and also due to the presence of the stirrup member ll therebetween. The jaws will, however, be urged apart due to their inherent spring or resiliency and thus the half-round threaded portions will be forced into tight contact with the wall of the socket and will always be maintained in this position. This provides a good electrical contact between the threaded ends of the jaws and the socket member and effectually prevents the generation of heat at this point.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within.

the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An electrode holder comprising a pair of substantially identical jaw members, each of said members having a relatively flat blade portion and a half-round. threaded portion, said half-round threaded portions being disposed with their flat surfaces together whereby they form a split threaded plug, and a socket member having an internally threaded socket to receive said plug, said jaw members being inherently resilient and being bowed at their intermediate portions whereby said portions are in spaced relation when their ends are in contact, and the threaded surfaces taper toward the ends thereof so that when surfaces are received in said socket they will be urged into tight contact with the wall of the socket by the inherent resiliency of the jaw members.

2. An electrode holder comprising a pair of substantially identical jaw members having blade-like portions with complementary halfround threaded portions at the rearv of said blade portions, a socket member having a. threaded socket to receive said threaded portions, said jaw members being oppositely bowed at their central portions whereby such portions are spaced apart when their ends are in contact, and the flat sides of the half-round portions diverge from a point adjacent the ends of ,the jaws, and said socket member forcing said flat sides toward each other when the threaded portions of the blade members are received therein.

3. An electrode holder comprising a pair of jaw members, said members consisting of relatively flatblade portions in opposed relation and halfround complementary threaded portions at the rear ends of the blade portions, a socket member to receive the threaded portions of the jaws, and said jaws being so shaped as originally formed as to diverge from the rear ends of the threaded portions thereof and possessing inherent resiliency whereby when said threaded ends are forced into the socket, the surfaces thereof will be urged by the inherent resiliency into tight contact with the wall of the socket.

4. An electrode holder comprising a pair of jaws having blade-like portions with complementary threaded portions at their rear ends,

said jaw members being inherently resilient and being so shaped as to be spaced apart at their central portions when their ends are in contact, an internally threaded socket member in which the threaded ends of the jaws are received, and said socket member forcing said ends together when the latter are received therein, whereby said ends are urged into tight contact with the wall of the socket by the inherent resiliency of the jaws.

5. An electrode holder comprising a conducting base member having a screw-threaded socket and a pair of electrode jaws having separate portions together forming a substantially cylindrical plug and threaded to be received in said socket, the threaded portion of said jaws being resilient, and the contacting surfaces of said portions diverging from the a rear ends thereof, whereby the threaded surfaces will be forced into tight contact when received within the socket.

6. An electrode holder comprising a pair of electrode jaws each having a half-round threaded portion at one end, an internally threaded socket member to receive said portions, and said jaws into tight contactwith the wall of the socket 5 when-the latter is forcibly threaded upon said portions. a

7, An electrode holder comprising a pairof resilient jaw members having relatively flat opposing surfaces, said jaw members being bowed outwardly'substantially from end to end whereby the intermediate portions thereof are spaced apart when their ends are insubstantial consome tact, a trigger member disposed in the space between the jaws intermediate the ends thereof. and socket means receiving the rear ends of the jaws and forcing them together to hold the trigger in place and make tight contact with the socket.

8. An electrode holder comprising a pair of resilient jaw members having relatively flat opposing suriaces, socket means in which the rear portions of said jaw members are received, said members being of bowed form longitudinally whereby when superposed with their ends in contact one diverges from the other toward their intermediate portions, a trigger member extending between the jaw members at their spaced intermediate portions, and said socket means urging said members together to clamp the trigger therebetween and make tight contact between the socket and diverging portions of the jaw members.

9. An electrode holder comprising a pair of jaw members, a socket in which the rear portions of said jaw members are received, and a rocking stirrup member for separating said jaws, said jaw members being in the form of bows having their 

